A wide variety of biohazardous and infectious medical waste materials are generated in hospitals, doctors' offices, veterinarians' offices, research facilities, and the like. These waste materials include items of dry or semi-solid material such as pathological wastes, blood supply paraphernalia, dressings, gloves, gowns, and blood-soaked linen, and further include liquid wastes such as blood plasma, body fluid specimens, and discarded vaccines. The waste materials also include sharp items, such as hypodermic needles, syringes, blood vials, scalpel blades, culture dishes, and broken and unbroken glassware that were in contact with infectious agents. The risk of cross-contamination and infection from these waste materials prior to their ultimate disposal is well known. In recent years, the additional risk of infection with the AIDS virus has intensified the need for a method of disposing of medical wastes with minimum risk of cross-contamination.
Generators and transporters of medical wastes are also becoming increasingly subject to federal regulation. Environmental Protection Agency regulations promulgated pursuant to the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 established a pilot program within four states and Puerto Rico for the handling, packaging, labeling, storing, and transportation of regulated medical wastes. 40 CFR .sctn. 259. Under these regulations, containers for medical wastes must be rigid, leak-resistant, impervious to moisture, sealed to prevent leakage during transport, and of sufficient strength to prevent tearing or bursting under normal conditions of use and handling. 40 CFR .sctn. 259.41. Packaging for sharps and sharps with residual fluids are required to be puncture resistant. It is anticipated that these or similar regulations may in the future be imposed on all generators and handlers of medical wastes nationwide.
Medical waste materials have typically been disposed of by discarding them into plastic bags generally supported by receptacles such as trash cans. When filled, the bags are closed, removed from the support receptacles, and set aside until either transported to a disposal facility, or disposed of on site, as by incineration. More recently, specialized rigid containers have been proposed as an alternative to plastic bags. One form of such container is a plastic box with a hinged snap over or snap down lid, as disclosed by Pepper in U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,643; Nelson et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,652; and Shillington et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,944. Other proposed rigid containers consist of corrugated paperboard cartons lined internally with one or more plastic bags. For example, Bartlett in U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,489 discloses a bag-lined paperboard carton with a pivoted single-piece lid. Stein, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,164, discloses a bag-lined corrugated paper box that is closed by a separate corrugated paper insert.
While these prior devices may be somewhat effective as a means of sanitarily disposing of medical wastes, they suffer from several inherent disadvantages. The plastic bags alone are subject to being punctured by any sharp waste items, such as hypodermic needles or scalpel blades, they may contain. In addition, they are subject to being punctured or torn by external objects during handling and transportation. The rigid containers, although less subject to puncture and leakage, require large amounts of storage and transportation space, both before and after use, due to their fixed volumes. When the fixed volume rigid containers are only partially filled with liquid, shifting of the liquid can cause handling and transit problems. The plastic containers are generally not biodegradable, and thus create a waste disposal problem of their own. The prior paperboard containers have been of a complicated and intricate design, requiring extensive retooling over and above that used in more conventional cardboard containers. These containers also require separate components, such as inserts, sleeves, or fastening pins, to close and seal them. Finally, the prior rigid containers have been relatively expensive, particularly in view of their one-time use.
Consequently, a need exists for a low-cost liquid-tight medical waste container that is puncture and tear resistant, simply and quickly closed, and does not require excessive amounts of space during storage and transportation.